The French engineer, Louis Réard, is credited with the invention of the bikini in 1946. Today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe BMW 635CSI prefers to go topless, but would you have to be a boob to pay ten grand for it?

Finding a topless 635CSI is about as rare as spotting a member of the royal family likewise disencumbered, and so with today's car, and earlier paparazzi snaps of noble nipples, this has proven to be a banner month. Like the range-topping BMW coupe from the ‘80s, Kate Middleton is a worthy candidate for topless bikinidom, and we should all count our blessings that it was her caught cavorting for global freedom, and not her royal grandmother in-law.

Someone has also been blessed by this grey market import '86 635CSI custom convertible which sports less than 60K on its clock, and a desirable 5-speed stick between its sport seats. It also has some kind of lame wheels, but that's always an easy visual blight to rectify.

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The ad says that the car was bought in Germany in '86 (which is why I'm anointing it so, although it could be an earlier car) and was brought to America for its beheading, a feat accomplished by Coach Builders Limited in Florida. At some point it was picked up by a convertible fetishist as part of his 40-car topless harem. Since then it's changed hands a couple of times, mostly between owners that couldn't be bothered to let it out and stretch its legs as it has spent two years in storage.

That hot potato ownership existence has resulted in a car that looks damn fine, but has a number of obvious issues. First off the good, there has been a bunch of engine work done - a refreshed top end and a few of the consumables replaced - and the seller claims that it gives good drive.

But then there's the issue of a custom top requiring some new stitching and unique molding, and the dash computer that has failed. Of course I think they pretty much all do that as they were operated by tiny gnomes kidnapped from Germany's deep black forests, and those little dudes eventually die. You can usually tell by the computer failing. And the terrible smell.

Okay, so I made that last bit up about the computer, the fact is gnomes never die. The rest of the car - with the exception of the worn roundels - looks pretty fabulous, although when retracted and covered by its tonneau, the top looks like two junior high boys watching the girl's volleyball game.

The interior's in great shape too, and the I can attest to the supreme comfort afforded by both front and back seats, although leg room in the rear is tight. The sport wheel and five speed fall readily to hand in front of the driver-centric dash, and the seller says all the glass moves as it should.

Under the hood, and attached to that 5-speed, is BMW's M30 SOHC straight six, sporting 3,430-ccs and somewhere around 220-bhp. That's a sweet sounding motor, and what better way to experience those sounds than unencumbered by a steel roof?

In order to revel in that experience you'll need to come up with $10,000, as that's the asking price that has been set by the current owner. What do you think about that, does ten-large seem like a fair deal for so unique a 635CSI? Or, is that a price that drops your interest in this drop top?